#6 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

You hear a sweet little voice (actually two) coming from on top of the table next to the couch you are sitting on saying, "One, two- GO!" and know you better duck and cover and fast because a little body is about to come hurtling toward you!

In fact, you feel you are amply prepared should you ever get attacked by a bear after dodging twice the sippy cups, jumping babies and avoiding angry biters:)- you are an expert at ducking and covering your face! Bring on the bears, I ain't scared (but potty training- that terrifies me!).

How Brave/Crazy Am I...

Don't worry, they didn't go fast or far with this many passengers but it was pretty funny to see a 4 wheeler loaded down with so many grandkids, and one more boy will be joining us is December. Heather's baby will be another boy, poor outnumbered Ashton! She has decided that it's OK. She will just remain the unchallenged queen of Granda Day!

Sometimes It's Good to Have a Brother...

Victory- I don't know if Will is celebrating having both his shoes on or that Wesley didn't bite, push or take something from him! Either way, I love seeing them interact nicely with one another!

My Favorite American Girls...

I wanted to take Ashton to the American Girl night at a local bookstore. As any American Girl knows, outings are always more fun if you have your girlfriends with you so we invited two of my best girlfriends and their daughters, some of Ashton's best girlfriends. First, we went out to eat. Then we headed to the store. Honestly, the class wasn't what I'd hoped it would be, but with these girls every night lives up to its expectations. We all had the absolute best time. Anytime I leave their company I wonder why we don't get together more often because we always have the best time. I have watched these girls grow up literally right next to my own, and I think they are turning out beautifully. Next time I hope I'll be posting about having them over and hosting my own American Girl night. That way we can do a rocking lesson and craft and let the girls play. Then my girlfriends and I can talk as loud as we want without disrupting the class, and we won't be begged to buy 30 different books they have to have :)

Oh, most importantly, at my house the lighting for the all-important pictures will be better too! And as we all know, that's what it's all about anyway, right???

Hey, at least these girls weren't complaining!

#5 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

You see this "innocent"pose and know something naughty is about to go down...

Of course, now I have photographic evidence and can prove that it was premeditated!

Follow him if you dare and run Will run!

Popcorn People...

This is my life:

My (popcorn) cup runneth over and I love it:

"This is the child (or 4) for which I have prayed and the Lord has blessed me abundantly above what I have asked."

Wordless Wednesday Wesley...

Wordless Wednesday Will...

Wordless Wednesday...

What Do You Do To Pay Jon Back for Leaving All Day...

Jon left me home all day while he had a man day with Jackson baseballing and hunting shows. How does my passive-aggressive self get revenge? I turn his other boys into girls:)

First, you let them ride a pink bike:

Then you let the other one push a baby stroller complete with baby doll:

The key to really grind it in is to do all this in full view of the entire neighborhood!

Really I had a great day with the boys and the girl (not pictured but obvious with the doll around!) and was glad Jon got to do something fun with the big boy. I'm just wondering if my day is coming up soon- hint, hint...

What Can This Mean...

An amazing new day has dawned around our house: the era of kid pitch! Jackson has moved up to the 9-10 year old league for fall ball which means it's kid pitch. The kids were given a choice if they wanted to be a pitcher. Of course, Little Jon has decided he must be a pitcher like his daddy. Jon decided not to coach his team this year so he could focus on Jackson. Now he has been named the unofficial pitching coach. He's been completely in his element giving them little exercises to work on their pitching. That is what's going on in this picture. Jon named this "the conductor" (You know after all those conductors who conduct while standing on one leg.). The best part is how much Jackson enjoys it. He created a chart to keep up with how many exercises he did of each kind. I have to take a bragging moment here for a second (hey, it's my blog indulge me): he is really a good little pitcher and getting better all the time. I am so nervous/excited about his first game. Yep, it's a whole new ballgame- hee hee! Sorry, bad joke please indulge me again :)

At Least Someone Likes My Cooking...

Ninety percent of the time, after slaving over a dinner and being so proud that I actually cooked I am met with "I don't like this. It's yucky." So, on this day I snapped these pictures to prove that someone likes my cooking- enough to lick his plate clean even!

#4 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in your family as a bruise or not on their body from being hit by a flying sippy cup. Either sippies are made from a really extra hard plastic or these boys really have an arm on them, but they hurt!!!

*If you are a mom to a 2 year old or almost 2 year old and are about to purchase some new sippy cups, please contact me and I will tell you what brands hurt more than others because lately I have been hit by them all! I consider it my own public service.

#3 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

I went to change Will's diaper. He was wearing pj's that zipped from toe to neck. I did not have to unzip them at all. I just held onto the zipper and he threw his fit (because how dare I try to clean his bottom and keep him from getting diaper rash!) which included flipping flopping and kicking like a beached fish. He thrashed around enough that he completely unzippered himself by me holding onto the zipper. The closest analogy I can think of for what I was experiencing is riding a bull. You just close your eyes, hold on and open your eyes when it's over. Yes, that's the perfect analogy for life with Will!

#2 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

I was in the kitchen when I heard Wesley yelling, "Get, get. Mine, mine." I looked in the living room to see Wesley was playing with his car garage. Every time Will would get close to try and play with it Wesley would yell, "Get" and point his finger away then throw in their favorite word "Mine". I realized he was yelling get and pointing to his brother exactly like I do to the dog! So degrading but funny!

# 1 You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...

I was at the sink and I heard Wesley yell "baseball" and noticed something rolling across the carpet. Now this is in no way an unusual occurrence as he plays baseball all day long. What did get my attention was the red not exactly round "ball" I saw rolling. On closer inspection I saw it was a tomato I had picked out of the garden the day before. I fearfully realized that Jon had brought in the bag full of tomatoes and left them sitting on the living room carpet. I was so scared to look around the corner and see how many tomatoes were exploded on my carpet! I looked and luckily just saw one more. I picked them both up, and they were busted but luckily didn't leak. Then I noticed both babies at the end of the couch dancing? On the hard wood in our entryway they had thrown a tomato "ball" and bust it spraying juice and seeds everywhere. Then they commenced dancing in the mess further scattering it everywhere! At least it wasn't on my carpet I guess. Obviously, I promptly called Jon and blamed him based on two facts: 1. He left the tomatoes over the gate where they could get to them (is he new here or what?) and 2. He gave them their baseball gene which encourages turning any sphere shaped object into a ball (if they took after me they'd have been rocking it like a baby or trying to teach it the ABC's while playing school).

I've decided that I probably should've asked for hardwood floors for their b-day because I don't think my carpet is going to survive!

My New Blog Feature...

With the twins' birthdays last week we entered an exciting yet scary age: TWOS! I know this year holds many changes for us, some good (no more diapers??!!) and some not so good (tantrums??). I think this year will change our family dynamics forever as we add 2 more people who can speak out and let their opinions be known thus having a lot more say in our family activities. Of course, with your last children it is always extra sad because you know you'll never have a baby again, but it is also nice because you treasure every moment. For that reason, I'm going to use my blog to document the good, the bad, and the ugly (because let's face it the ugly is usually the funny!). It helps me to survive the trying times by trying to find the humor in it and knowing it'll make a good blog post! So my new blog feature will be "You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If...". Did you like my nod to "You Know You're a Redneck If...". I could probably do several of those posts too :)

Please feel free to leave a comment on how you knew your kids had entered the terrible twos because another way I survive is laughing at you, I mean knowing others have survived before me:)

Enjoy laughing at the posts as long as you pray that we survive after every evil chuckle!

Happy Birthday Times 4...

Since we had such a blowout last year for the twins and since A's b-day is so close to theirs and since we had to cancel J's b-day back in March since we all had the flu, we decided to have a family party for the 4 of them together. Since, if I were to be truthful, I usually pretty much pick out what themed b-day they have. This year I thought it would be fun to take them to the party store and pick out whatever they wanted. I realized that would mean 4 different plates and stuff, but I was trying to be a flexible mom! However, when we got there the big kids decided they wanted SpBob and the babies started yelling, "SpBob, SpBob". So, a theme was born!

As usual, Daddy came through with a rocking cake:

How great is he?

Donnie made all the kids SpBob shirts. I wanted a picture of all 4 of them.

Will was nice enough at several times during the day to demonstrate what a 2 year old tantrum looks like. Wasn't that sweet?

Of course, we never miss an opportunity to pull out the waterslide:

SpBob was a busy sponge having to sport candles for all 4:

I always try to get a family picture at b-days, unfortunately Will was in the middle of a "demonstration":

Present opening was a little wild but everyone got some great loot and that's all that matters, right- just kidding!

We had a fun day although it was really crazy just like all our days! It was so fun to celebrate all my babes.

A Perfect Birthday...

Saturday was the boys' birthday, and we tried to think a special way to celebrate. We decided to do what the boys would pick if it were up to them. It was an obvious choice: the park! The Double Dodds love them some park. First, we had to sign brother up for baseball which really got them excited because they thought they were getting to watch some baseball. They were a little upset to leave but were happy again when they saw the park. We all had a great time running around playing. It was so nice to take time out just to enjoy each other. Their favorite place was the little fort because Daddy would hide and scare them.

All 4 of us acted goofy to try to get a good picture of these two on their birthday. The stars all aligned and I got this beauty:

While Wes was being a goofball Will gave me a classic Will sweet face:

It wouldn't be the perfect birthday if it didn't involve swinging. Will hated to swing when he was littler but now there's nothing he'd rather do:

This was a really low key birthday which seemed to make it all the sweeter!

Wordless Wednesday (Why Is It Always Wesley???)...

Look Who's Famous...

A great blog written by several moms I admire is Totally Tots. It is full of great ideas of things to use teaching your tots. This week I think the site is even cuter than usual. Look who's now famous!

My Favorite Summer Activity...

One of the first things we did to kick off the summer (at least the big kids since Jon got stuck home watching the twins!) was to go to the drive-in in Lewisburg. This was an idealic night. It was so much fun that we swore we were going to go back lots. Here it is the end of the summer and we haven't gone back yet :( However, it is still open until the weather turns too cold so maybe we can still make it.

We went with the Moore's, Dickson's and my sissy (who was just there for the funnel cake-one for her and one for baby in belly!).

You have to arrive early to stake out a good spot (not really but I like to be in the front) then the kids get to play away the daylight. There's a field in front of the screen where all the kids play football and Frisbee and things. Meanwhile, the adults eat and visit. They have a full concession stand and much more reasonable prices than the other theaters! Then you have to snap a few pics as you settle in your favorite lawn chair, pick up truck or comfy blanket to enjoy the movie.

If you've never been to the drive-in you should check out their website. If you decide to go don't forget to invite me :)